You will find English placement test essay examples for your college entrance exam on this page.
In the writing section of the test, you will see literary nonfiction, essays, and informational passages.
The passages are around 300 words in length and there are five questions on each one.
Our free study guide will help you learn all of the grammar rules that are covered on the test.
Instructions: Read the first of our English placement test essay examples below and answer the questions that follow.
(1) The Department of Education in our state recently stated that more discipline is needed in the classroom. (2) Can you believe it? (3) It comes a bit late – I’m sure you’ll agree – but then the employee’s at the Department have had a great deal to think about over the years.
(4) I don’t generally put much stock in the Department of Education’s opinions. (5) For several years, I’ve seen bad behavior in some schools and nothing serious being done about it. (6) In the meantime, the Department of Education has insinuated through its silence that everything was just great. (7) Evidently, however, now it’s not.
(8) Consider for instance, one of the children in my gifted class. (9) Since the school is discontinuing the program, he has to move back into the main school, understandably, he’s told me that he doesn’t want to go. (10) He wants to stay where there are very high standards of behavior and work. (11) He’s done so well. (12) His parents can’t believe the high level he achieves. (13) How great is that?
1. What is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence 3, reproduced below?
It comes a bit late – I’m sure you’ll agree – but then the employee’s at the Department have had a great deal to think about over the years.
A. Leave it as it is now.
B. employees
C. employees’
D. employees’s
2. What is the best decision regarding the underlined portion of sentence 7, reproduced below?
Evidently, however, now it’s not.
A. Leave it as it is now.
B. Remove the comma after “Evidently”
C. Remove the comma after “however”
D. Delete “Evidently,” from the beginning of the sentence
3. What is the best decision regarding the underlined portion of sentence 9, reproduced below?
Since the school is discontinuing the program, he has to move back into the main school, understandably, he’s told me that he doesn’t want to go.
A. Leave it as it is now.
B. Place a period after “school” and begin a new sentence with “Understandably,”
C. Use a dash after “school” instead of a comma
D. Use a colon after “school” instead of a comma
1. The correct answer is B. The word “employees” forms the grammatical subject of the sentence. The writer is speaking about all of the workers at the Department of Education, so we need to use the plural form. An apostrophe is not required since we do not need the possessive form.
2. The correct answer is A. The sentence is best as it is written in the original essay. A comma needs to be placed after “evidently” as it is a transition word used at the beginning of the sentence. A comma also needs to be used after “however, because it is used within the sentence. The use of both words in this sentence serves as a logical connector to the previous argument that the writer is making.
3. The correct answer is B. We have two complete sentences here since each has its own grammatical subject and verb. So, a period should be used after “school” and a new sentence should be made starting with the next word.
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